DailyHalacha.com for Mobile Devices Now Available

Click Here to Sponsor Daily Halacha
"Delivered to Over 6000 Registered Recipients Each Day"

      
(File size: 676 KB)
Succot- The Mukse Status of the Sukka Decorations

There is a Misva to decorate the Sukka before Sukkot; the Sukka decorations are referred to in Halachic literature as "Noi Sukka."

The Rama (Rabbi Moshe Isserles of Cracow, 1525-1572) writes in his glosses to the Shulhan Aruch (Orah Haim 638:3) that one may not move or handle the Sukka decorations on Shabbat or Yom Tob, as they are considered Mukse (listen to audio recording for precise citation). This ruling is cited in the name of the Tur (Rabbi Yaakov Ben Asher, Germany-Spain, 1270-1340). One must therefore ensure not to fiddle with the Sukka decorations, neither those which hang from the Sechach nor those attached to the walls. The Be’ur Halacha (commentary by Rabbi Yisrael Meir Kagan of Radin, 1839-1933) adds that if a decoration falls down on Shabbat or Yom Tob, one may not pick it up until after Shabbat or Yom Tob ends. One may pick it up on Hol Ha’mo’ed.

If a Sukka decoration falls on the table, and one wishes to remove it from the table, he may lift and shake the table so that the decoration falls. Alternatively, the Ben Ish Hai (Rabbi Yosef Haim of Baghdad, 1833-1909) rules that one may ask a three- or four-year-old child to remove the decoration from the table. It is forbidden, however, for an adult to directly remove the decoration from the table.

This Halacha does not apply to pieces of Sechach that fall onto the table. If chips of wood or bamboo, for example, fall onto the table on Shabbat or Yom Tob, one may remove them, because they have the Halachic status of "Geraf Shel Re’i" – a substance that people find revolting. Halacha permits removing such items even though they would ordinarily qualify as Mukse. Therefore, although one may not remove Sukka decorations from the table, it is permissible to remove pieces of Sechach that fell onto the table.

Summary: Sukka decorations are considered Mukse on Shabbat and Yom Tob, and one may not handle them on Shabbat or Yom Tob, even if they fall. If a decoration fell onto the table on Shabbat or Yom Tob, one may ask a young child (aged three or four) to remove it, or shake the table so it falls. If pieces of Sechach fall onto the table on Shabbat or Yom Tob, one may directly remove them from the table.

 


Recent Daily Halachot...
May a Woman Recite Minha After Lighting Shabbat Candles?
Is It Permissible To Squeeze Grapes and Other Similar Foods In One's Mouth on Shabbat
Weighing and Measuring on Shabbat
May a Woman Drink After Lighting the Shabbat Candles?
Lighting Shabbat Candles in an Illuminated Room
Allowing an Internet Business to Run on Shabbat; Requesting a Wakeup Call in a Hotel on Shabbat
Is a Husband or Wife Bound by the Other’s Acceptance of Shabbat?
Public Transportation and Air Travel on Shabbat
Allowing a Gentile to Voluntarily Perform a Melacha on Shabbat; Making an Indirect Request to a Gentile on Shabbat
Using Electric Lights as Shabbat Candles
Asking Somebody Who Has Yet to Accept Shabbat to Perform Melacha
If One Mistakenly Began Reciting "Ata Honen" During the Amida on Shabbat
One Who Comes Late to the Synagogue on Friday Night
Is It Permissible To Carry In An Apartment Building Hallway On Shabbat
Asking a Non-Jew to Perform an Action on Shabbat That Will Result in a Melacha
Page of 239
3585 Halachot found